Tyres/tires deflating

[Earthwatcher]

On Sunday I came home from a trip (not in the Grenadier, my wife had been driving that) to find the front nearside tyre had deflated - completely flat - so I blew it back up again with my compressor, set at 37 psi, to check for a puncture (couldn't see anything). Anyway it was just the same pressure the next day and the day after so that was a puzzle. That day, Tuesday, however, I saw that the rear nearside tyre was deflating. I blew that up again and left it overnight and when I checked it this morning it was still fine. But the front tyre had deflated again. It's got me scratching my head. Could there be an issue with the valve caps? I'll re-inflate it now to see what happens, but I'm reluctant to take the Grenadier out until I can figure out what's going on. I've ruled out a mischief-maker - we're pretty rural so have a very low yob count.

 

[Eric]

On Sunday I came home from a trip (not in the Grenadier, my wife had been driving that) to find the front nearside tyre had deflated - completely flat - so I blew it back up again with my compressor, set at 37 psi, to check for a puncture (couldn't see anything). Anyway it was just the same pressure the next day and the day after so that was a puzzle. That day, Tuesday, however, I saw that the rear nearside tyre was deflating. I blew that up again and left it overnight and when I checked it this morning it was still fine. But the front tyre had deflated again. It's got me scratching my head. Could there be an issue with the valve caps? I'll re-inflate it now to see what happens, but I'm reluctant to take the Grenadier out until I can figure out what's going on. I've ruled out a mischief-maker - we're pretty rural so have a very low yob count.

This just seems the sort of prank that young kids would do. OK you are rural, but isolated?

 

[Cliffy]

Split or small puncture in sidewall. Only goes down when its bulged on bottom.

 

[Jiman01]

Valve caps doesn’t normally do much to prevent air leaking. They are mostly there to protect your valve stem core.

It does sound very suspicious, like someone is messing with you, but barring that, check to make sure your valve stem cores are tight??

I reread your post and have a question. The following days when your rear, followed by your front, deflated, how many psi are we talking….down to the rim? If its a little bit, maybe you ran over something since it sounds like its happening on the same side.

 

[Karearea]

You need to spend more time with your Grenadier….
This is clearly just some simple attention seeking behaviour

 

[CRH]

sounds like they need resealing on the rims, I had that on one of the wife's cars

 

[CountyV8]

Which. wife?

 

[CRH]

Are you a stickler for grammar or just understand the comer system here in the UK, unlike the rest of us
Answer to your question is no.1/current (sadly), or not depending on how much I would get fleeced for in a divorce
Or are you implying I'm a bigamist?

 

[Earthwatcher]

Ruled out wife after serious interrogation. Not kids, none around here and besides, what self-respecting junior hooligan would let just one tyre down? Have re-inflated front and will check again later. We have had some very frosty weather so maybe that had an influence, but why would it be so random?

First tyre was completely flat, as it was again this morning. Second (rear nearside) was down to about 20 psi and 24 hours after being re-inflated to 37 psi (cold) it was still reading that on the sensor. Two slow punctures are unlikely but not impossible, but that doesn't explain why it wasn't going down two days after re-inflation (until it did, last night and completely flat). These are the Bridgestone tyres.

 

[Earthwatcher]

Re-valve stem core - the valve is thinner on these tyres than those I've been used to and stem core comes almost to the top. I wonder if I tightened the cap right down it could press on the valve? I'd hoped someone else had experienced the same issue but most folks here I believe have BF Goodrich tyres. Wish I'd gone for that option now.

 

[Jiman01]

That is weird. I’d be interested to hear what the problem/solution is once you figure it out.

 

[Jiman01]

Re-valve stem core - the valve is thinner on these tyres than those I've been used to and stem core comes almost to the top. I wonder if I tightened the cap right down it could press on the valve? I'd hoped someone else had experienced the same issue but most folks here I believe have BF Goodrich tyres. Wish I'd gone for that option now.

Reinflate your tires and leave the caps off and you’ll know for sure after a few days. But IMO a valve stem leak would be gradual vs. from your description it sounds like they’re totally good for a few days then flat to the rims by the third day.

 

[terdrocket]

Soak the tires in water and dish soap from a sprayer and look for bubbles

 

[Eric]

Re-valve stem core - the valve is thinner on these tyres than those I've been used to and stem core comes almost to the top. I wonder if I tightened the cap right down it could press on the valve? I'd hoped someone else had experienced the same issue but most folks here I believe have BF Goodrich tyres. Wish I'd gone for that option now.

That's a possibility that the valve cap has been screwed to tight and depressed the valve stem. But that does account for the first front flat in the first place. The only way to test for either a bead issue, slow puncture and valve stem problem. Is to take the wheel off and immerse it in a water trough to check for a slow leak. But that is messy and time consuming.

 

[LeeroyJ]

Take a coffee mug. Fill it half full of water and put a bunch of dishwashing soap in it. Get a small brush, like a toothbrush. Re-inflate the tire. Put some of the soapy water on the valve and valve stem and where the valve stem meets the rim, see if you get any bubbles. If you do you have a leak and you know where it is. If you don't, you have a small leak somewhere else on the tire, use the brush to put that solution on the rest of the tire until you find the area that bubbles. Drink some bourbon.

 

[bemax]

After changing the tyres I had one tyre deflating very slowly. The dealer checked it and found out that the inner mount of the valve had been loose. They could not say what caused this as they didn’t had to touch this part of the valve for mounting the new tyre.

 

[Ovrland Bill]

After changing the tyres I had one tyre deflating very slowly. The dealer checked it and found out that the inner mount of the valve had been loose. They could not say what caused this as they didn’t had to touch this part of the valve for mounting the new tyre.

Perhaps the inner mount of the valve (particularly on wheels with bulky pressure sensors inside) should always be checked for security before a tire is mounted.

 

[Earthwatcher]

An update: it turned out that my wife had collected a slow puncture on both front and rear nearside tyres at the same time in roughly the same place mid-tyre. Had them repaired for £25 each. They couldn't find what had caused the punctures, no nails, screws etc, just tiny punctures. So a bit of a mystery that my wife was unable to expand upon! We live in a rural area and punctures seem to be quite common in these parts.